Asking The Big Questions on Anime and Manga

Winter 2019 Anime Watch List

A new year and a new year of anime, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we’re strictly talking about the Winter 2019 anime season and what shows that I specifically will be watching! I’ve decided to list these in order of release, you know, so you actually have to ~read~ what I say about each show to know why specifically I’m hyped about each show!

BanG Dream! 2nd Season – January 3rd 2019

What they say: “When she was a child, Kasumi Toyama (played by Poppin’ Party’s lead singer, Aimi) felt a heart-pounding thrill every time she gazed at the stars, and she’s been looking without success for something that could inspire the same feeling ever since. One day, she comes across a star-shaped guitar in a rundown pawnshop and, for the first time, discovers the thrill she’s been searching for. Kasumi becomes determined to form an all-girl band, and her search leads her to four like-minded souls: Saya, Arisa, Rimi, and Tae (all brought to life by the members of Poppin’ Party). Does this band have what it takes to make their dreams of stardom come true?”

What I say: Its lonely being a BanG Dream fan… oh sure the mobile game gets plenty of attention but when was the last time you saw someone talking about the show?! It’s all Love Live this and Idolmaster that. Well you know what, I love BanG Dream and I can’t wait for this new season, so there!

Boogiepop wa Warawanai (Boogiepop Never Smiles) – January 4th 2019

What they say: “There is an urban legend that children tell one another about a shinigami that can release people from the pain they may be suffering. This “Angel of Death” has a name: Boogiepop. And the legends are true. Boogiepop is real. When a rash of disappearances involving female students breaks out at Shinyo Academy, the police and faculty assume they just have a bunch of runaways on their hands. But Nagi Kirima knows better. Something mysterious and foul is afoot. Is it Boogiepop, or something more sinister…?”

What I say: For the longest time this wasn’t even on my preliminary watch list. Why? Because I thought this was a sequel to the positively ancient anime I never watched ‘Boogiepop Phantom’, but apparently this isn’t a sequel and I can watch it with no knowledge of the previous or source material? Cool works for me, hope it’s good.

What they say: “Ueno-san, who is in her third year of junior high school, is in love with the concept of falling in love. She makes full use of her inventions and tries to show it off to Tanaka, her Science Club kouhai.”

What I say: This looks like a middle-school version of ‘Chio’s School Road’ (or maybe that’s just the protagonist) but either way it looks like it’s going to be a lot of inappropriate comedic fun! Sign me up!

Circlet Princess – January 8th 2019

What they say: “People’s lives have changed because of VR and AR, and an competitive sport has born from these technologies called CB (Circlet Bout). CB can be competed between two schools and became an e-sport that decides the wealth of the schools. It also became the real ability of the school, which depends on not just the students’ academic skills, but also on the data based on the sport ability, art, skills, etc.”

What I say: Umm, is it shallow of me to pick a show to watch based solely on how sexy the outfits of these future sports girls are wearing? Because I gotta be honest, that’s what’s put this on the list. Happy to be shown a legitimately good show, but until then I’m here for ~those skin tight outfits~, mnnng.

Pastel Memories – January 8th 2019

What they say: “The story takes place in a future Akihabara where otaku culture has declined. Players play as a shopkeeper of an otaku shop. Together with the heroines who are in fact otaku girls, the shopkeeper start helping people claim their lost otaku memories back.”

What I say: You had me at: “the story takes place in… Akihabara” like that’s literally as far as I read. Any series that takes place in the greatest place on earth is an insta-watch for me. I mean it helps that there’s cute girls on the poster but whatever, just gimme that Akiba-service right now!

Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita! – January 8th 2019

What they say: “One day, fifth grader Hinata Hoshino brings her friend Hana Shirosaki to her house, and Hinata’s sister Miyako, a college student, falls in love with with Hana at first sight. Miyako manages to get along with Hana somehow, but her clumsy behavior and shyness, makes Hana wary. Even so, Hana gradually opens up to Miyako, who wants to become closer to her.”

What I say: It’s this seasons ‘UzaMaid!’, oh how I love a yuri x lolicon series with an emphasis on the awkwardness and comedy! Plus visually this is exactly the kind of series I just eat up wholeheartedly!

Ame-iro Cocoa: Side G (Rainy Cocoa: Side G) – January 9th 2019

What they say: “In the fifth season of the Ame-iro Cocoa series Youko, the daughter of the Rainy Color cafe’s owner Kouji Amami, takes over as the acting manager of the cafe.”

What I say: Question: When is it okay to watch the fifth season of a show when you haven’t watched the previous 4? Answer: When it’s an all-female spin-off of a previously all male slice of life comedy! Obviously I had no interest in the previous seasons but when I see 5 sexy ladies (and a shota) standing outside a coffee shop on a poster, you better believe I take an interest! This is a short anime though so don’t expect weekly reviews.

Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan (Near Death!! Ekoda-chan) – January 9th 2019

What they say: “Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan is a fun and dark a 4-koma manga about the real (?) life of the author, a single woman in Tokyo who drifts through relationships and works at various hostess clubs and the like. Lots of commentary on “birds of prey” (moukin), girls who use their cuteness and affect stupidity in order to try to score men (against whom the author is constantly fighting).”

What I say: Would you believe this out of any other anime this season is my most anticipated anime? Probably not, but then again I’m an eclectic kinda guy! (Or at least I like to think I am…) Everything about this an anime is unknown quantity, it could reference things too niche for me to find humour in, it could be a 2 minute anime and fail to properly grab my attention, it might even not even get subtitled into English and then I’d especially be shit out of luck, but I’m hoping the stars align and its a 25 minute anime that’s as promising as it sounds and gets picked up by Crunchyoll… Stranger things have happened!

Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (The Rising Of The Shield Hero) – January 9th 2019

What they say: “Naofumi Iwatani, an uncharismatic otaku who spends his days on games and manga, suddenly finds himself summoned to a parallel universe! He discovers he is one of four heroes equipped with legendary weapons and tasked with saving the world from its prophesied destruction. As the Shield Hero, the weakest of the heroes, all is not as it seems. Naofumi is soon alone, penniless, and betrayed. With no one to turn to, and nowhere to run, he is left with only his shield. Now, Naofumi must rise to become the legendary Shield Hero and save the world!”

What I say: I’ll never say no to an isekai! Even if it’s one that sounds as painfully generic as this, I know people are already hyping this up because of the source material but I get the feeling this is going to be another ‘Goblin Slayer’ for better and worse.

Dimension High School – January 10th 2019

What they say: “NOTE: Anime/live-action hybrid series

The high school boys are transported to an anime world while they are in cram school. Since then, they start school life in the anime world they are transported to.”

What I say: Each season I always like to pick up at least one anime that I would never normally watch or doesn’t appeal to me, this is this season’s pick. Though the fact it’s hybrid anime/live-action is at least something that’s interesting. I don’t hold out high hopes for this one…

Girly Air Force – January 10th 2019

What they say: “Mysterious flying creatures known as Zai suddenly appear, and in order to fight the creatures, mankind creates fighter aircraft called “Daughters,” as well as the automatic fighting mechanism “Anima,” which are shaped like human girls. The story centers on a young man named Kei Narutani, who yearns to fly in the sky, and an Anima considered to be humanity’s trump card, a girl name Guripen.”

What I say: That’s a very ‘Strike Witches’ premise, but hopefully it’s a lot better than that because ‘Strike Witches’ was always a bit mediocre for my tastes.

Date A Live III – January 11th 2019

What they say: “The third season of Date A Live.”

What I say: ‘Date A Live’ has always been a series that I kind of forget that I even like it, until I’m actually watching it then I remember how much I enjoy it. So while I’m not hyped for this season I am still going to watch it. That said, its under a different animation studio (J.C. Staff) and is it just me or do the characters suddenly look like they belong in ‘My Sister, My Writer’?! Hopefully that’s just indicative of the art-style and not a sign of a train-wreck to come…

Go-toubun no Hanayome (The Quintessential Quintuplets) – January 11th 2019

What they say: “One day, a poor high school second-year named Uesugi Futarou comes across a private tutoring gig with good pay. But his pupils are his classmates!! And they’re quintuplets!! A-and they’re all gorgeous girls, but they’re also troublemakers who hate to study and are on the verge of flunking out! And his first task is simply gaining the sisters’ trust?! Every day is a party! The curtain is rising on the Nakano quintuplets’ quirky romantic comedy with five times the cute!!”

What I say: Did someone say a five-sister harem?! This series seems like it has potential, though hopefully more on the comedy side than the romance side.

Yakusoku no Neverland (The Promised Neverland) – January 11th 2019

What they say: “Emma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as “Mom,” all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. Good food, clean clothes and the perfect environment to learn – what more could an orphan ask for? One day, though, Emma and Norman uncover the dark truth of the outside world they are forbidden from seeing.”

What I say: I’m presuming I won’t like this show, everything about it just screams try-hard. So don’t be surprised if I watch one episode, drop it and never mention it again. Hoping to be pleasantly surprised by it but honestly expecting the worst.

What they say: “When the Earth is threatened by the sudden appearance of undead creatures, a group of young women blessed with powers from a mysterious source rose to defeat them. Now, after three years of apparent peace, the same malevolent creatures have resurfaced. Five magical girls are once again conscripted to war as the Magical Girl Special Ops force, to defend mankind from an unholy nemesis.”

What I say: ‘Magical Girl Special Ops’ is just a very evocative title, I don’t have any expectations for this show, and maybe it’ll be too ~edgy~ for me but at the very least the girls are cute.

Bermuda Triangle: Colorful Pastrale – January 12th

What they say: The glittering spotlights. The sparkling, fluffy, cute outfits. The charming voices while dancing with bright smiles. Under the dazzling lights on the big city stage, these would be the mermaid idols who swim and dance freely underwater.

But far from this big city, the girls once lived in the peaceful village of Parrel. These girls, who would not even imagine such a glittering future for themselves, are instead just raising a fuss over the snack cakes they are eating. This is the story of the cheerful daily life of mermaids who strive their hardest everyday.

Two geniuses. Two brains. Two hearts. One battle. Who will confess their love first…?!

Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane are two geniuses who stand atop their prestigious academy’s student council, making them the elite among elite. But it’s lonely at the top and each has fallen for the other. There’s just one huge problem standing in the way of lovey-dovey bliss—they’re both too prideful to be the first to confess their romantic feelings and thus become the “loser” in the competition of love! And so begins their daily schemes to force the other to confess first!”

What I say: Oh, hey look a show I’ve actually read the manga for this season! I’m not really keen on straight-up romance shows but this one’s different enough that I’m looking forward to it!

Endro~! – January 13th 2019

What they say: “Naral Island, a continent with swords and magic in which humans and monsters coexist. The terrible Demon King lives there. In ancient times, the first-generation hero defeated the Demon King. Over the many successive generations since then, the Demon King has been resurrected, and the hero who opposes him has likewise reappeared. Girls attend a school for adventurers in order to defeat the Demon King when he appears again.

Though a bit absent-minded, Yusha has the body of a hero. The holy elf Seyla’s trouble never ends because she is too serious. The cheerful warrior Fai loves to eat. Mei is a quiet otaku magician. As the four girls aim to be in the hero party, they live relaxed fantasy lives and show no sign of defeating the Demon King no matter how much time passes.”

What I say: I already love it and I’ve only seen the poster and read the synopsis. I mean it’s a CGDCT, slice of life show in a fantasy world. Perfection!

Manaria Friends – January 21st

What they say: “NOTE: Originally scheduled for 2016 but was postponed.

Anime adapting the “Manaria Mahō Gakuin” (Mysteria Academy in the English version) event within the Rage of Bahamut social game.”

What I say: Everything about this “premise” is bizarre, adapting mobile games into an anime is nothing new, in-fact one of the biggest success stories this year was just how good Uma Musume: Pretty Derby was and that was based on a mobile game too. But based on an ‘event within a social game’ is a new one. Also I deliberately left in the note saying it was “originally scheduled for 2016 but was postponed” that in of itself is interesting, have they been working on it the whole time to make it better? Was it completed and then shelved for 2 years? Oh, suppose I should talk about the show itself, um… looks like a sexy demon girl, i’m in!

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And that’s my watch list, I’m sure as is always the case, some will be dropped and others will be picked up, after all ‘Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai’ wasn’t even on my watch list because of its dumb title and it ended up my favourite anime of Fall 2018! So who knows what surprises Winter 2019 will bring us! Leave a comment below on your thoughts and thanks for reading!

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I really just wait until stuff airs and watch it then. We always did a preview post at Metanorn, and while I’d write up some things for it, it was really just me saying “Yeah, this sounds like something I’d watch”.

As for Date-A-Live III, it’s one of those series that I’d like a lot more if they followed the right characters (Tooka, Origami), but they never do (Kurumi, the Yamai sisters). I guess they figure they can get more mileage out of the broken antagonistic characters than the steadfast supportive characters, but it’s annoying that they just ignore some characters until they need them to save Shidou’s bacon, then go right back to ignoring them. I wouldn’t worry about a quality train wreck like My Sister My Writer, tho. JC Staff is like 80 steps up from MAGES, NAZ, or Magia Doraglier (who have never done anything else on their own), and is also a step up from Production IMS (who did D-A-L II and the movie).

I’m not worried about JC Staff, it was more just an amusing note that the art looked quite a bit like My Sister, My Writer. I think I’d put JC Staff as one of my favourite animation studios, I know they’re not as detailed as the likes of PA Works but I just really like them.

When I dropped My Sister, My Writer, partly I was annoyed that they had ruined an art style and character designs that I liked. Based on your posts, they then proceeded to grind them into the dirt further and irreparably sully them. Although it’s hard to say that the derp-lympics that some of the episodes were was actually the same “art style”.

The Dimension High School trailer (the one I saw on the anime’s website, I’m not sure if there’s another one around) looks like absolute crack – that is, it had me cracking up by how ridiculous it really was. I mean, a talking meteorite (which is, in real life, a rock one of the voice actors picks up) and jokes about a character’s hands disappearing into their body? I’m sold! (Note my top show of winter 2018 was the obscure short-ep series gd men, which is a badly-animated comedy which redeems itself on that front by the sheer amount of jokes and references it can squish into a limited runtime, so I expect something similar from this. Or, in other words, if it sticks to being like its trailer for the whole season, your experience with it could get vastly better or worse, depending on your sense of humour.)

Likewise, a word of warning about Ameiro Cocoa: I watched the first series – it was on Funimation’s YouTube channel at the time. It’s a really low effort production (in mostly bad ways – the fact it’s two minutes an ep is its only saving grace), so I don’t know how anyone managed to produce a Hawaii season, let alone Side G…